Saturday, August 18, 2012

Replacing the HVAC Blower Motor in 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The Grand Cherokees seem to have a chronic problem with the blower motor in the heating and air conditioning system, where the bearings slowly go out and start making noises.

I've owned my 2005 Grand Cherokee for about four years now, and I've had to replace the blower three times now.  It usually starts with a little bit of squeaking, and eventually develops into more of a growl or grinding that varies with the speed of the vent air.

The blower motor can be found online for about $50 from places such as www.directauto.com, and it's a simple fix to replace it.

The motor is located behind the glove box on the passenger side.  Begin by removing two screws from the kick plate above the passenger size floor board.  The plate will come out with a bit of tugging.



Now is the hardest part - you need to scoot the passenger seat all the way back.  Then, laying on your back on the floor, look up and you will see the blower motor behind the glove box.


There are three Torx-head screws that hold the motor in place (only one is visible in the photo above).  Remove those screws and the old motor will come loose.  Use the quick disconnect plug on the cable, and remove the old motor.

The new motor is installed, by following the instructions in the reverse order.  The whole process takes less than 20 minutes.


My Jeep came with a motor that was going out after 50,000 miles, although I'm not sure if it had ever been replaced nor do I know how the prior owner treated the vehicle.  My first replacement lasted a couple of years before it started making noise.  The third motor was only in the vehicle for a couple of months, however it started squeaking after some heavy-duty back roading in Colorado.  My gut is telling me that either the motor shaft is being bent, or the bearings are damaged by rough roads.

6 comments:

In love with a man 28 my senior said...

I took off the glove box in my jeep Laredo 05 and I see a log black cylinder on the rat with wires and I replaced the resistor. Please help me with dummy directions on how to replace my new blower motor. I am a single unemployed mom and it is hot/humid here.

Lonely Giant said...

i thought ur in love with a man 28 years your senior ?

octoscott said...

Hello, thank you for the great instructions! Question. Our 2005 has a loud grindy sound, sounds like plastic, maybe, from the passenger side dash. It seems faster than the clicking in your other article, but that might be hard to judge. It sounds like it may be this, but it doesn't vary with the air conditioner fan speed settings, it's pretty constant. It starts sometimes when starting the vehicle, then usually stops after a while, but can come back when turning on the air conditioning. Does this sound like it could be this blower motor? Or maybe something else?

Zack said...

If it doesn't vary with the fan speed, I would tend to think not. There are several different actuators up under the dash that could have different sounds I suppose.

Unknown said...

The whole purpose of helping others is because we are all in this together.

barb said...

Any way to know if these instructions will also work on a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee??